How to Design and Make 3D Printed Lamp Shade

I had enough bare or newspaper decorated light bulbs or when a ceramic lamp was broken and I was left with a bulb socket with the wire. In the first situation is a matter of decoration or availability of desired shade. In the second case it is a case of upcycling working parts: bulb socket, wire, switch and mains plug - it would be a waste to throw it away. So I have designed a flow on how to design and make 3D printed lamp shade to fit an existing bulb socket. This way I can design the desired shape, style that fits both the room and the hardware. One can go with a very simple or very fancy design using 3D modeling software, FDM 3D printer and basic filament like PLA or PETg

Examples can be see here:

Ceiling lamp

Point lamp

Shelf lamp

1. Light bulb hardware - E14 or E27 bulb socket.
2. Wiring - wire, switch, mains socket or mains wire connector.
3. Vernier calipers for taking measurements - the most convenient tool.
4. 3D modeling software - Fusion 360( in this case), or TinkerCad or what ever suits You.
5. Slicer software (those are mandatory if You are going to print it on Your own).
6. Translucent 3D material - PLA or PETg filament for FDM printer.
7. 3D primer with required work volume.

WARNING! Usually a shade is mounted to a lamp using mains power - unplug, disconnect or switch circuit breaker for the time of work with bulb hardware. Don’t electrocute yourself by a hurry or lack of imagination!

Limitations - temperature will destroy Your beautifully designed and printed lamp shade. PLA border line is around 50 Celcius, PETg a few more. So the light source and attachment surrounding should be checked for heat build up. Usually LED bulbs are “cold” yet the power source embedded into the base can get hotter. As well, a regular bulb by nature is hot, yet when proper distance and design is kept both a bulb and the 3D printed part can go together.

Constraints - obvious one - printer build volume. Second - when printing in vase (spiral) mode with thick line and coarse line height the extruder and hot end can reach volumetric flow limit. Setting the print under 13 mm^3/s should be at top safe level for most well maintained printers. The last one - an overhang angle of 45 degrees is a safe option for any FDM printer. The design should be kept within this angle limit to have a nice and clean end effect.

Key dimensions are:

• bulb socket external diameter
• mounting nut external diameter
• mounting nut height
• overall bulb size - diameter and height to place it inside a shade in the desired point

Pictures shows E27 bulb socket for a floor lamp.

The first step is to draw a sketch part with bulb socket attachment. Key is to keep the bulb socket hole diameter and proper step and thickness for the socket screw - those elements create an attachment surface.

Next step is to choose overall dimensions - max diameter, height and an important design feature - opening for the bulb and hand to operate the socket and the bulb. I have put 45 degree sketch lines to keep me from creating too much of an overhang.

 These considerations will form the outline of the shade that can be used next to Revolve Sketch Profile, this creates a solid body.

The body then is converted to triangle mesh, next step is to simplify the mesh to achieve low polygon effect for the shade. Of course this is not required for the design with smooth contours or any other final design approach.

The key takeout from this step is an exported mesh as the slicer input. The body does not need to be single walled - vase mode in a slicer software will do the job.

Import the mesh into a slicer - Super Slicer (derivative from Prusa Slicer) is used in the example. A printer is capable of creating a much wider line than a nozzle diameter (see CNC Kitchen research). 0.4mm nozzle allows with no problem for 0.7 line width, 0.6 will go up to 1.0-1.1 mm - Your Mileage May Vary. Then numbers of bottom layers need to be bumped up to build a proper, thick attachment surface for the nut. Do it in correlation to layer height to achieve at least 1.5 mm.

When everything is ready check the gcode preview for proper tool path and volumetric flow. Now enjoy the time of the printing as you want. Then remove the print, mount, screw in a bulb, connect mains and admire Your excellent creation!